The Howling
by muzicdreamz
Summary: Book/Movie Will, Robin, and Tom are stuck waiting for Paul to finish his orchestra practice so they can go to the school Halloween Dance. However, an old “friend” shows up, and the night doesn’t exactly happen according to plan! Music, magic, & laughs!


**The Howling**

_**Summary**_: It is Halloween one year after Will's encounter with the Rider of the Dark. Will, Robin, and Tom are stuck waiting for Paul to finish his orchestra practice so they can go to the school's Halloween Dance. However, an old "friend" shows up, and their night doesn't exactly happen according to plan. (This short story combines the book and movie. Enjoy!)

*

_The Signs have been found in all times of old;_

_But what of the Last Sign, the mightiest thus far,_

_The Sign of Breuddwyd, the sign of all?_

_Breuddwyd shall forge Pendragon's sword, _

_And this talisman shall aid the Light_

_To bring down the Dark in a time not our own._

"I hate this waiting," muttered Tom Stanton. "I really hate this."

"I'm hungry," groaned his older brother Robin. "Why did Paul's National Youth Orchestra have to practice tonight of all nights? I wanted to go to our school's Halloween Howling Dance. Staying in a car for two hours really hasn't been my idea of fun."

"I know," Tom's twin Will agreed, curling up against the car door. "But Paul's the only one with the driver's license because the others are at college and _you_ failed your driving test! Our parents can't chauffer us around – they have the flu!"

"Perfect timing to catch the flu," muttered Tom darkly.

Will rolled his eyes. "As soon as Paul and Ilana come out of practice, we can go."

"Paul and his oboe-playing girlfriend…" moaned Robin. He scowled. "I _need_ food."

"Here come people. They'll be out soon," Will said.

"Hopefully," murmured Tom, putting in his iPod headphones and closing his eyes.

Suddenly, the world went dark for Will. The air was silent and still. He tried to see, but it was impossible.

"Tom?" he called through the thickening air. "Robin?"

_He saw the Sign Circle as clear as if they were in front of him. Then it vanished. Will reached out mournfully to bring them back, but it was no use. They were gone. A moment later, a new Sign appeared. It appeared to be made out of silvery blue wood of a birch tree. In the center of the quartered circle was a rose made of glass. It was deep crimson on the edges, but it faded to petal pink and then white, as pure as newly fallen snow. Will saw great strength in the Sign, the Last Sign…_

_Suddenly, Will was under cold water, tightly wedged into an unseen prison. He tried to scream, but no sound came out._

"_Go home," a voice said in harsh tones. Will groaned as he recognized the voice to be Rider, a Lord of the Dark. Will had battled Rider in the past. But why was Rider back, and how had he escaped from his glass prison? _

_And where was Merriman Lyon when you needed him? _

"_No," Will tried to say, but it felt like cloth was pushing into his mouth and nose. His eyes couldn't take the pressure. It felt as if his very body was flattening. Then—_

"Will, wake up! Ilana's here," Tom said with a laugh. Then he frowned and tried to see where his brother was. "Where's Paul?"

Robin shrugged. "I don't know. He's probably giving his flute a massage or something obsessive like that. He may be a brilliant flutist, but he's still obsessed in my book."

"Hey, practice went really well," Ilana said cheerfully, opening the car door. "Paul just went to go get his metronome. He left it on the music stand."

They waited 5 minutes. They waited 10 minutes.

"I'm going to go check on him," Will said.

"I love him dearly, but tell Paul to say goodbye to his music stand," Tom said tiredly.

Will jumped out of the car and jogged up to the doors of the school. They were all locked, except for the last one. Pulling it open, he let his eyes adjust to the darkness.

"Okay, okay! Leave me alone!"

"And don't forget it, you idiotic flutist! Stay out of this!"

Will heard footsteps stomping away. He ran down the hallway and into the bright lights of the auditorium. A boy older than him was coming up the aisle.

"What are you doing here, squirt? Forget your instrument?" he asked, smirking. "Or are you checking up on your brother? He is your brother, right?" He gestured to the stage. Paul lay in a heap, clutching his bleeding nose with one hand and metronome with the other.

"Why did you do that?" Will burst out, anger beginning to simmer in his heart. "Whoever you are, answer me!"

The boy laughed. "Don't mess with the Riders, Will Stanton. And don't mess with me, Gary Mitothin." Will glared at him.

"I earned a trinket from this one." Gary held up a shiny object. Will felt his blood run cold. It was a quartered circle with a rose in the center. It was the Last Sign.

"That's Ilana's necklace!" Paul shouted through his bloody nose.

"Move, midget!" With that, he pushed past Will. Will heard his receding footsteps. He ran down the aisle to the stage.

"How do you get up on this blasted stage?" he muttered, scowling.

"Practice, practice, practice," he heard Paul say. Will smiled wryly as he found the stairs.

"Come on, let's get you out…"

Suddenly, a scream came from down the hall. Will and Paul looked up.

"LET ME GO!"

"Look what I found!"

"Oh, great, Gary's got Ilana," Paul said. Gary dragged Ilana into the room. Will grimaced. Then, he saw Paul's metronome.

"Give me your metronome."

Paul looked at him like he was crazy. "Why do you need a metronome at a time like this?"

"Just give it to me," Will said. Paul handed it over skeptically. Will looked at it and, taking a deep breath, sent it flying. It hit Gary in the head.

"Oh –" he hissed, letting go of Ilana and clutching his eye.

"Ilana, run!" shouted Will. Paul got up, and, rubbing his nose, ran after her.

"Will, come on!" he said.

"Not yet," Will said stubbornly. "Mitothin, hand over the necklace."

Gary's face was twisted in hate. A sneer played across his mouth. "Will, I know more than you think I do about this necklace. You know that; that's why you're so scared right now."

"I'm not scared of you, if that's what you mean," Will said, scowling.

"You will be."

The room began to spin. The walls dissolved into whirling lines. Will squeezed his eyes shut to stop his dinner from somersaulting out of his stomach. After a long moment, the sensation subsided. He and Mitothin were in the same auditorium, but it was a younger auditorium. It had clearly just been built.

"Bet you didn't know that I can step through time like you, did you?" taunted Gary. "Go on, say it!"

"In your dreams," Will replied. He rolled his eyes, but on the inside, he was unnerved.

Gary scowled menacingly. He circled Will casually. "I never had much time for dreams. Waste of time, really. They tantalize you into hoping for something that will never happen. At the end of the day, you're just more exhausted than before." His face stiffened. Opening his mouth, hosts of rooks flew at Will, talons outstretched in their lust for blood. _Will's_ blood.

"Will?" called Paul, creeping out from behind the chairs with Ilana. "Will!"

No one was on the stage. His brother and Mitothin were gone.

"Oh no, what are we going to tell your mom?" moaned Ilana. "Where is he?"

"I don't know," Paul said quietly.

"You've got to know! They can't just _vanish_!"

"Well, that's what they just did." Ilana fumed.

"I am going to – _injure – _Gary!"

"If he comes back," noted Paul.

Ilana rolled her eyes. "_Flutists_."

*

Will fell to the ground to escape the rooks. Gary laughed.

"Ready for round two?" he asked. Will desperately sent fire at him. The other boy just swatted the fireballs away nonchalantly. Screwing his eyes shut, Will brought them back to the present.

"There you are!" called Paul. Ilana breathed a sigh of relief.

"Get out of here!" Will called tersely.

"Come on," muttered Paul. He tugged Ilana by the hand and pushed her out of the room.

Will and Gary didn't notice anything else. They circled each other in fighting stance, ready to pounce as soon as the other let his guard down. Will gritted his teeth. He had to defeat the Dark this time, if only because he had a score to settle. Tom had had been taken from his family for 14 years. It was time that the Dark felt some of his pain.

The tall, dark haired boy with the smirk and the serious blonde boy exchanged blows, fighting the old fashioned way, without magic to aid them. As Will began to tire, Mitothin smiled tightly. He was the better athlete of the two. Will summoned up his great strength, but he couldn't get a punch in to use his powers. It was very frustrating, and Will ground his teeth. Sweat began to drip down into his blue eyes. He shook his head, trying to see clearly, but it was no use.

Seeing his advantage, Mitothin pounced. His fist came out of nowhere to hit Will squarely in the temple, knocking him senseless. Will fell backwards in slow motion. Mitothin held out his hand. Will was sucked into a snow globe. As he regained consciousness, everything went black, and he was plunged into a nightmare.

A dark gray fog surrounded Will. Its tendrils swirled around him, sticking to his hair and blinding his eyes. He swatted away the annoying substance, but the fog just collected even more densely around him. He could feel his prison moving up and down, but he couldn't see anything besides the fog.

"You failed," a sharper voice called mockingly. "Some Old One you are."

Will looked down. He tried to summon up hope, but it came reluctantly, with great hesitance.

The voice grew in strength. "Do you really think you can defeat us, Will Stanton? I assure you, I, Rider, am not going anywhere. Neither is my apprentice, Gary."

*

Ilana and Paul raced out of the school and to the car. Paul slid into the driver's seat.

"Now where's _Will_?" demanded Robin. "Don't tell me _he's_ joining your orchestra too!"

Paul glared at him. "For your information, Gary Mitothin has started fighting him with some sort of, I don't know, magic!" Robin smirked. Tom sat up quickly, banging his head on the seat in front of him.

"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?" he scowled. "Will is going to get himself killed! I better go save him." He sighed, pushed open his door, and stepped outside.

"Don't be stupid! I'm calling the police. They'll handle it. We just got you back last year. Don't make us go through that again," Paul said, staring his younger brother down.

Tom just smiled sadly. "I know. I would give anything not to go inside that building. But someone's got to go, and I'm Will's twin. I can do this." Paul reluctantly nodded. Tom set off for the doors to the school, the lights illuminating his silhouette.

Ilana grabbed Paul's shaking hand. "They'll be okay," she whispered. Paul bit his lip. Robin raised his eyebrows.

Will swallowed. _Oh no, Rider survived his imprisonment! _

"Yes, Will, I survived, thanks to my apprentice here. He helped me return to power. I can hear what you think, you know. It is the only way we can communicate. Your darling brother was my test subject in this matter. Try to make a sound. You'll see, nothing will happen." Will tried to shout, but he no sound came out of his mouth. Cruel laughter filled his brain. Just like in his vision, Will was suddenly squeezed in on all sides. He gulped, for he knew that soon he would be under water—forever.

*

Tom panted slightly as he followed the signs to the auditorium. He paused outside the door and peered inside. There were two people on the stage: a man and a boy. The boy he didn't know. The man was a person he hoped he would never see again. It was none other than his kidnapper, the Rider. Rider was talking to a snow globe. Tom felt his blood run cold. Will had to be inside that prison.

The roles had reversed. One year ago, Tom had been trapped inside the same snow globe, cut off from his family. Now, Will, the twin brother who had rescued him, was trapped. It was eerily similar.

_I don't have any powers like Will does, though!_ Tom thought desperately. _How can I save him from the Dark?_

Suddenly, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Tom's eyes widened. He whirled around to see Merriman Lyon. He held a finger to his lips, signaling for quiet.

"What can I do?" whispered Tom. "He's my brother! I don't have his powers! I'm _normal_!"

"You may not be able to command fire, move objects, or summon great strength, but you do wield fantastic power," Lyon said quietly, meeting Tom's frightened blue eyes.

"Let me give you a hint: the smallest light shines in the darkness." Tom blinked, and Merriman was gone. His brain clicked. He knew exactly what to do. Casting his fears aside, he strode into the auditorium.

*

"Goodbye, Will Stanton," said Rider. "And good riddance!"

Will tried to keep holding on, but his consciousness slipped away like water in cupped hands. He wasn't afraid to die; he was afraid for the world he was leaving behind. He would miss his family terribly, especially his newly found twin brother.

*

"You there!" Tom shouted, sprinting down the aisle toward the stage, where Rider had conjured a huge basin of water. "Let my brother go!"

Many things happened at once. Gary whirled around, ready to attack. Rider dropped the snow globe in surprise. Will heard his brother's voice and found his hope. The voice of pure Light had pierced the Darkness of his prison.

The snow globe exploded, sending shards everywhere. The majority of the pieces hit Rider and Gary, causing them both to cry out in pain. Gary dropped Ilana's necklace. Tom threw up his hands to protect himself. A single shard pierced his palm. An exclamation of pain escaped from his throat.

"Don't mess with me, Rider," Will said from the stage. He glowed, the Light from the sign in his soul shining out from his eyes. Rider and Gary edged away from the light, shielding their eyes.

"And don't you dare mess with my family or my brother," he growled. Rider and Gary edged away, but they paused at the door.

"You may have won this. But you will see us again, Stanton," Rider growled. "We will be stronger than ever!" He swept out of the room. "Come along, Gary!"

"In your dreams," Will called after them. Mitothin hesitated, turned around, and met Will's eyes. He stared at Will, scrutinizing him carefully. Their eyes met. Gary blinked after a minute and nodded to himself. He ran after his master, choosing the Dark side forever. Will threw out his arms, and the two villains were thrown from the building in a blaze of white Light.

*

Paul, Ilana, and Robin gasped when they saw the two figures fly through the sky. They shielded their eyes against the blinding light.

They faced each other. Ilana gulped.

*

Will picked up the sign with trembling fingers. It glowed faintly with a rose colored light.

"Thanks," he said to Tom. "I thought I was a goner for sure."

Tom shrugged. "You're my brother. How could I do anything less?"

Will smiled. He jumped off the stage and gave him a one-armed hug.

"Let's get out of here," he said.

As they started out, someone cleared his throat. The twins turned around to see Merriman.

"_There_ you are!" cried Will. "We could have used you about a half an hour ago and avoided this mess!"

"You needed to do this on your own," Merriman said with a twinkle in his eye. "And you obtained the Sign, I presume?"

"Yep."

"Do you know why it was so important?" Will and Tom shook their heads.

"As you may already know, King Arthur was simply a mortal man. He didn't have any extraordinary powers. It was his friend Merlin who was gifted in magic. He was one of the Old Ones. Now, Merlin knew that to defeat the Dark, Arthur needed a tool to drive away his fears and uncertainties. In some cases, it is not bad to be afraid. Fear can give you some of our greatest strength. However, Arthur needed great help. It was a dark time for humanity.

"Merlin needed a sign. So, Thomas Stanton was called to create another sign years after he made the first six. This last sign embodied dreams, dreams of hope and happiness. With this sign, Merlin forged Excalibur. Excalibur was the blade that enabled Arthur to triumph over the Dark in his final battle, known as the Howling. Without it, humanity would have been lost."

"This is that sign?" asked Will, fingering the rose.

Merriman nodded gravely. "It was lost but is now found. I must bring it back to Arthur's time so Excalibur can be forged anew and the battle won again."

"But this seems all too coincidental! We only came here for Paul's orchestra practice!" said Will in disbelief.

Merriman held up a gloved hand. "Destiny brought you here. We just took care of the details." He smiled. "So long, Stantons. Today was a good day." With a final wave, he swished his cloak and disappeared through time.

"He's infuriating," scowled Will.

Tom just grinned. "That's what Paul, Robin, and Ilana are going to be if we make them wait any longer. Let's go to the Halloween Howling Dance!"

As they walked outside, Will spotted the car and stopped short.

"What will Ilana say when we don't have her necklace?"

They peered at the car carefully. Ilana and Paul leaped out. They were holding hands tightly.

"Will! Tom!" they cried. Tom grinned.

"Somehow, I don't think she'll mind," he said mischievously. Will elbowed him.

"Come on, let's go!"

*

A/N: Please review! Constructive criticism would be great. Please, no flames. A review would make my day and you would be AWESOME!!! :)

Thank you so much for reading!

Now go review! Go on! :-)

- muzicdreamz


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